10-29-2023, 05:20 AM
Taken from Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen's Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Everyday of the Year
PRESENCE OF GOD - Teach me, O Lord, to fulfill all my duties in homage to Your sovereign Majesty.
MEDITATION
1. The teachings contained in the Mass of this Sunday can be synthesized in the well known statement of Jesus, which we read in the Gospel (Mt 22,15-21) of this day: “Render...to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s”; in other words, fulfill with exactness your duties toward God and toward your neighbor, by giving to each one his due.
The Epistle (Phil 1,6-11) presents St. Paul to us as a model of charity toward those whom God has confided to his care. “I have you in my heart,” writes the Apostle to the Philippians, “for that in my bands and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my joy.” St. Paul is keenly aware of his spiritual paternity toward the souls he has begotten in Christ; even from a distance, he feels responsible for their success, is preoccupied with their perseverance in good, sustains them with his fatherly affection and wise counsels: “Being confident of this very thing, that He, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” He does not want them to be frightened because he is far away from them: he is nothing but a poor instrument, God alone is the true guide of souls, and He will complete the work begun. As for him, they may be certain that he does not cease to love them: “For God is my witness how I long after you all in the heart of Jesus Christ.”
St. John Chrysostom asserts that the heart of Paul is the heart of Christ because of the great love for souls which makes him so like the Redeemer; thus should it be possible to say of the heart of every apostle. When God has put us in contact with a soul and has asked us to occupy ourselves with it, we can no longer be disinterested; this soul is henceforth bound to ours, we should feel responsible for it, and bound to help it even to the end.
After having spoken to us of the solicitude we should have for those confided to our care, the Epistle reminds us also of charity toward our neighbor in general: “That your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding : that you may approve the better things.” He speaks of a charity increasingly delicate in its understanding of the souls of others, adapting itself with an ever more refined tact to the mind, the demands, the tastes of others; a charity which must urge us, as St. Paul says, to “approve”—and therefore, to do—“the better things,” in order that we “may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ.”
2. The Gospel outlines, clearly and distinctly, the position of the Christian toward civil authority. The insidious question: “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” gives Jesus the occasion to solve the problem of the relation between religious and civil duties. He asks for a coin and says: “Whose image and inscription is this? They say to Him: Caesar’s. Then He saith to them: Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.”
There is no opposition between the rights of political power and the rights of God, since “there would be no power unless it were given from above” (cf. Jn 19,11): political authority, legitimately constituted, comes from God and must be respected as a reflection of the divine authority. This is precisely the reason why every Christian is bound to fulfill all the duties of a good citizen, and, consequently, must obey political authority, unless its orders are opposed to the law of God; for, in this case, it would no longer represent
divine authority and then, as St. Peter says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5,29).
We must not believe that because we are vowed to the apostolate or dedicated to religious works, we are, by this fact, dispensed from civic duties; on the contrary, even in this domain Catholics should be in the front rank. Emperors, kings, statesmen, soldiers, whom the Church honors as saints, tell us that sanctity is possible everywhere and for everyone, that it can be realized by those who dedicate themselves to the service of the State, because even here it is a question of serving God in His creatures.
By telling us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, Jesus teaches us to give to the State all that falls under its jurisdiction, that is, everything that concerns temporal order and the public good. But Jesus does not stop there, He says more: “Give to God what is God’s.” If the coin which bears the image of Caesar should be restored to Caesar, with much greater reason should our soul, which bears the image of God, be restored to God. To say that we must give our soul to God, is to say that we owe Him everything, because, as a matter of fact, we have received everything from Him. In this sense, to fulfill our duties toward our neighbor, toward our equals or our inferiors, toward our ecclesiastical or civil superiors, is to fulfill our duty toward God; it is to restore to Him everything He has given us, by submitting our freedom to His law, by putting our will in the service of His will.
COLLOQUY
“O my God, since I am Yours for so many reasons, and have so many obligations to serve You, permit no longer that sin, or Satan, or the world, usurp, even in the slightest degree, that which is entirely Yours. But, if it please You, take complete and absolute possession of my being and of my life. Here lam, O my God, I give myself entirely to You, protesting to You that I do not wish to exist but for You, and that I do not want to think, or say, or do, or suffer anything but for Your love, today, tomorrow, and always” (St. John Eudes).
“O my Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself to me and You ask only for my heart. But, O my Lord, what is this poor heart of mine when You are all? If my heart were worth more than those of all the children of men combined, and all the love of the angels, and if its capacity were so great that it could contain more than all the empyreal heaven, I would consecrate it wholly to You. It would be a very poor gift, and even almost nothing, to so great a Lord. But, how much more shall I not give You, and wholly repose in You, this little spark of a heart which I find in myself! Because this is for me a very great thing, that You should deign to keep my heart. Would it not be folly if I should consecrate it henceforth to some creature, when my God wills it for Himself? I do not want it to remain any longer in me, but to repose entirely in You, who have created it to praise You. It is better that I place my heart in eternal joy, in divine majesty and in immense goodness, rather than in my frailty; that I place it in Your deity, rather than in my iniquity” (St. Bonaventure).
343. OUR DUTIES
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
PRESENCE OF GOD - Teach me, O Lord, to fulfill all my duties in homage to Your sovereign Majesty.
MEDITATION
1. The teachings contained in the Mass of this Sunday can be synthesized in the well known statement of Jesus, which we read in the Gospel (Mt 22,15-21) of this day: “Render...to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s”; in other words, fulfill with exactness your duties toward God and toward your neighbor, by giving to each one his due.
The Epistle (Phil 1,6-11) presents St. Paul to us as a model of charity toward those whom God has confided to his care. “I have you in my heart,” writes the Apostle to the Philippians, “for that in my bands and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my joy.” St. Paul is keenly aware of his spiritual paternity toward the souls he has begotten in Christ; even from a distance, he feels responsible for their success, is preoccupied with their perseverance in good, sustains them with his fatherly affection and wise counsels: “Being confident of this very thing, that He, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” He does not want them to be frightened because he is far away from them: he is nothing but a poor instrument, God alone is the true guide of souls, and He will complete the work begun. As for him, they may be certain that he does not cease to love them: “For God is my witness how I long after you all in the heart of Jesus Christ.”
St. John Chrysostom asserts that the heart of Paul is the heart of Christ because of the great love for souls which makes him so like the Redeemer; thus should it be possible to say of the heart of every apostle. When God has put us in contact with a soul and has asked us to occupy ourselves with it, we can no longer be disinterested; this soul is henceforth bound to ours, we should feel responsible for it, and bound to help it even to the end.
After having spoken to us of the solicitude we should have for those confided to our care, the Epistle reminds us also of charity toward our neighbor in general: “That your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding : that you may approve the better things.” He speaks of a charity increasingly delicate in its understanding of the souls of others, adapting itself with an ever more refined tact to the mind, the demands, the tastes of others; a charity which must urge us, as St. Paul says, to “approve”—and therefore, to do—“the better things,” in order that we “may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ.”
2. The Gospel outlines, clearly and distinctly, the position of the Christian toward civil authority. The insidious question: “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” gives Jesus the occasion to solve the problem of the relation between religious and civil duties. He asks for a coin and says: “Whose image and inscription is this? They say to Him: Caesar’s. Then He saith to them: Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.”
There is no opposition between the rights of political power and the rights of God, since “there would be no power unless it were given from above” (cf. Jn 19,11): political authority, legitimately constituted, comes from God and must be respected as a reflection of the divine authority. This is precisely the reason why every Christian is bound to fulfill all the duties of a good citizen, and, consequently, must obey political authority, unless its orders are opposed to the law of God; for, in this case, it would no longer represent
divine authority and then, as St. Peter says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5,29).
We must not believe that because we are vowed to the apostolate or dedicated to religious works, we are, by this fact, dispensed from civic duties; on the contrary, even in this domain Catholics should be in the front rank. Emperors, kings, statesmen, soldiers, whom the Church honors as saints, tell us that sanctity is possible everywhere and for everyone, that it can be realized by those who dedicate themselves to the service of the State, because even here it is a question of serving God in His creatures.
By telling us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, Jesus teaches us to give to the State all that falls under its jurisdiction, that is, everything that concerns temporal order and the public good. But Jesus does not stop there, He says more: “Give to God what is God’s.” If the coin which bears the image of Caesar should be restored to Caesar, with much greater reason should our soul, which bears the image of God, be restored to God. To say that we must give our soul to God, is to say that we owe Him everything, because, as a matter of fact, we have received everything from Him. In this sense, to fulfill our duties toward our neighbor, toward our equals or our inferiors, toward our ecclesiastical or civil superiors, is to fulfill our duty toward God; it is to restore to Him everything He has given us, by submitting our freedom to His law, by putting our will in the service of His will.
COLLOQUY
“O my God, since I am Yours for so many reasons, and have so many obligations to serve You, permit no longer that sin, or Satan, or the world, usurp, even in the slightest degree, that which is entirely Yours. But, if it please You, take complete and absolute possession of my being and of my life. Here lam, O my God, I give myself entirely to You, protesting to You that I do not wish to exist but for You, and that I do not want to think, or say, or do, or suffer anything but for Your love, today, tomorrow, and always” (St. John Eudes).
“O my Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself to me and You ask only for my heart. But, O my Lord, what is this poor heart of mine when You are all? If my heart were worth more than those of all the children of men combined, and all the love of the angels, and if its capacity were so great that it could contain more than all the empyreal heaven, I would consecrate it wholly to You. It would be a very poor gift, and even almost nothing, to so great a Lord. But, how much more shall I not give You, and wholly repose in You, this little spark of a heart which I find in myself! Because this is for me a very great thing, that You should deign to keep my heart. Would it not be folly if I should consecrate it henceforth to some creature, when my God wills it for Himself? I do not want it to remain any longer in me, but to repose entirely in You, who have created it to praise You. It is better that I place my heart in eternal joy, in divine majesty and in immense goodness, rather than in my frailty; that I place it in Your deity, rather than in my iniquity” (St. Bonaventure).
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre